THE WAR.

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 2701, 21 April 1915, Page 1

THE WAR.

THE NEW ZEALANDERS. |

ON CaiARD IN EGYPT. READY TO MOVE OUT AT ANY MOMENT. FROM THE DIARY OF A YOUNG FEILDINGITE. [Another further instalment is lv hand of the diary o! a. young Fcildingite upoJi his exyorieuces and im~ ])ressions on the Great Adventure. This time his experience -is unique— gnai'diiig prisoners, yet ready a-t amoincJit'.s notice to yet out on tho warpath.j Ahbassiah Delejitioji .liarracks, Cairo, Eyypt. Wednesday, March a, l!) Jo. No, I'm not "doiny time," as the above heading might lead you to believe. On Sunday afternoon, just after I had finished my previous letter to yi.li:, 1 was k'ld that on Monday I would be one of a. yuard lo yo to Abbayyiah (Ab-bcr-seei-) Detontion Bari'acka for a week. Monday moniiiiy I. epent in cleaning my -buttons and packing my sway. We liaye all our possessions with us, for it is expected that we will move from Egypt before tlie week is out. Wo left camp a party of 22 privates, two corporals, a sergeant, and a bugler, at 2 p.m., gutting lo the barracks a-L8 o'clock. Tlio senior corporal (that's me) bad to take six men and tho bugler and take over the "Gate Guard." We relieved some Australians. My word, but we. "struck it rich!' . List, while J tell you. I. have only i.iik! "post I, —that gate; so the men do twt> hours on duty and tun oil. Tho re.uiuindrr ,of tho party is stationed at tho other side: of (ho barracks, and has nothing lo do with us. ■ Tiicy are under tho sergeant. Jt appears that wo brought down a corporal and throe men too many, and on Tuesday the other corporal and three men returned lo camp. ■ Attached to my guard-room are tho solitary coiiliiiemcnt cells —three-, of. them. Two are small and one is fairly largo. At present there, is one man in each of the small i.-.ells and two in the large ceil. Their tare is broad and water for breakfast and tea, and for lunch they —water. The cells aro bare of furniture., whitewashed, and with a .small barred window up near the. ceiling. The other prisoners aro bettor ofl. They aro two and thrco in a ci-11, and they June a large, barred window. They get skilly twice a day, and stew once. The quality is gooij,'but the quantity is small, xevy small. Thi'Sf! men in my cells arcgiven their three blankets at i.) p.m., and the blankets are taken away from them at (5 a.m. Poor beggars 1 I don't envy them their lot, although I can't raise much sympathy for them, because they have to be. pretty serious cases to be lien, , . | The a(afl' of this, place is composed uf Australian and New Zealand nonrijins. Discipline is very rigorous. The men not doing "cells" 'do fatigue j work and drill. We of th« guard arc j iii clover. We have a good guard- j room, wbJdi, bring built of slone, is line and cool in the heat of the day. We have army cots, an extra blanket, a mattress and two SHEETS of uuMeaelir.d linen! And woare alhnved to strip Tor bed! On other guards a man is not allowed to remove any part of his clothing or equipment. Last night I hero were 1-lU prisoners in the institution. These barracks wvrc previously occupied by Egyptian infantry. The Jirsfc night here I couldn't get to sleep for a long time —the bed was too comfortable! I went to Cairo last evening on leave. The tramway runs right past the barracks. This place is commanded by an Australian captain, who is the typical Irish third-class nclor. He strolls in and talks in a- big, breezy inauuer<pand as be swaggers out one j thinks that he finds this world "not i such a ba<l old place. ,, I "Receptions" I Like place- between the hours of 2 and 5 o'clock, and that is my busy lime. Non-coms and escorts arrive, with prisoners, and take : away men who have completed lhr>ir-, sentence , . l,liave a- ledger in which I have lo enter tho name, time ot arrival and departure, ami business, ol r everyone who comes hero. This 'morning we saw tho whole of tho New Zealand division march past, about- a. half-mile away—horse, foot, and artillery—bound for tho desert I for manoeuvres. They went back at 7.30 this evening. Y/hat a, talc of woe they will have!--for it an egg was dropped on the asphalt road that runs past hero 1 believe it would be fried : before one could sloop down. Hot! I This' afternoon, at about 4.30 o'clock, the Sultan of Egypt drove past, accompanied by »" i-seort or Egyptian cavalry. He visits Ins mo-I tlier in Helionolis. She, I believe, is very ill. I turned out my guard, and "presented arms" to him. General Maxwell nassed hi a motor car, but he didn't give us time to turn out to him. .' , Friday. 8 n.m.—Last night I went over to 'Heliopolis for a couple of hours. It is about a mile away. 1 j watched the motion pictures for halt an hour. These are- shown in tlic^ 1 open The screen is erected on the "•utter side of the footpath and the machine is in the cafe building, at a window. The people sit at httlo round tables in the open space m front of the cafe. All the payment I made was to buy a packet of cigarettes. After that, I -strolled round and watched tho crowd. The Egypt-ian-French folk always promenade tor an hour or two after sunset. The boys in camp are going out for night operations to-night, 1 hear. I don t mind them having that on their own. When prisoners are brought here, the. escorts have to stay outside the gate and only the prisoners the escorting non'-eom. come inside. This afternoon there were about 20 men of escorts lolling about outside waitin "■ for their non-coms to return. General Godley went past in a motor car. He had tho car turned, and came back. He sent his aide-de-camp in for "the commander of the guard." Of course, my guard was 'turned out' by this time.' Well, I went out to the car, and the General went ofl: about •the men hanging about outside. He evidently thought they were part of my guard. "Looks so bad," and "good name of the force," and a lot like that ho said. 1 said not a word but "Yes, sir!' 1 don't believe in making excuses to those big guns, even though his blaming me was unjust. J suppose he will say something to my colonel, and then there will be a row. Ip in Heliopolis they have an hole!, with a thousand bedrooms. They have turned the place, into a military hospital, which is staffed by tho Australian nurses. Sunday, 7.30 p.m.—l was out on leave yesterday afternoon from 3..'30 and went up to camp to get my pay. The boys got back from thc/ir night's outing'at 1 ().;!f) mi Sal unlay morning. J weiit in(f) Cairo, but got back lo barracks at S. |/>. This morning I escorted three prisoners up to the hospital at the ||<<liiipulis Palace ||o(.e|. Tuo for Irealliieiit and one for admission lo Ihe. hospiM. We had a long while to wait. We bad (~. u;ill; h : .c|<, although we were, l;iken vii iV an Atisl raliau motor ambulance. .Just as w e were com in;.!; away they were hiking Ihe hodv of .soldier who had just died out Id flic mortuary. Saw lots of nurses :iln>iit: tiie buildup;. They are. a plain, clean, and capable-looking lot. It's a grand building, quite worthy of the ii,iinfi of "Palace."

We will be relieved at 3 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. It hasn't been as hot as usual today. There is practically no twilight here-—the sun sets, and the night has arrived. This afternoon the Assistant, Adjutant-General, Colonel Chaytor, visited the barracks. I'll be sorry to leave this place tomorrow.